EU Ambassadors' Meeting Held Up By Continuing Brexit Talks - Reports

A meeting of EU ambassadors and commissioners was delayed on Wednesday as chief EU negotiator Michel Barnier continued Brexit talks, media said

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 16th October, 2019) A meeting of EU ambassadors and commissioners was delayed on Wednesday as chief EU negotiator Michel Barnier continued Brexit talks, media said.

Barnier was expected to debrief EU envoys at 2 p.m. (12:00 GMT) but the meeting was delayed until 5 p.m., the Politico publication cited two unnamed EU officials as saying.

The UK government was meanwhile holding talks with Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) in a bid to secure its support of Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Brexit proposals.

DUP leader Arlene Foster denied media reports claiming that her party had accepted Johnson's proposal on the "consent mechanism," which would give the Northern Irish legislature the right to block any form of alignment with the European Union.

The consent issue has taken center stage after months of wrangling over ways to avoid the return of customs checks on the island of Ireland. Politicians in London and Brussels are working against the clock to strike a deal before the start of a two-day EU summit on Thursday.